Key Yorkshire and North East openings this January

Running 14 January – 1 February, Empire Theatre (Sunderland)

Singin' in the Rain

Direct from the West End, this critically acclaimed production of Singin’ in the Rain is a smash hit with critics and audiences alike. It tells the story of the first Hollywood musical, when the silver screen found its voice and left silent movies – and some of its stars – behind.
Screen star Maxwell Caulfield plays studio boss R F Simpson and Steps & West End leading lady Faye Tozer is the ‘uniquely voiced’ starlet Lina Lamont in this classic musical, full of high energy choreography and sumptuous set design (including 12,000 litres of water!). Singin’ in the Rain showers you with everything you could wish for in a hit musical!

Running 14 -18 January, Sheffield Theatres (Sheffield)

Blink

This is the tale of Jonah and Sophie. It’s a love story. A dysfunctional love story, but a love story all the same. Against the lonely backdrop of London, the worlds of two shy individuals collide, and a charming, delicate and darkly funny story unfolds before your eyes.
Directed by Soho Theatre Artistic Associate and nabokov artistic director Joe Murphy, Blink was a sell-out hit at Soho Theatre and in Edinburgh in 2012.

Running 21 – 25 January, Sheffield Theatres (Sheffield)

The Life and Loves of a Nobody

Sheffield based, internationally acclaimed Third Angel return to the Crucible with their premiére of The Life & Loves of a Nobody.
Rachel always wanted to be a star. Rachel wanted to run away with the circus. And have her name in lights. And escape from this house. And she dreamed of the future. But people can be ugly. The closer they are the uglier they get. And there’s nobody closer to yourself than yourself. Life is a juggling act. Love is a high-wire. Try to do both at once and it’s a long way down. But even if the act goes wrong, you can still be famous for the fall.

Running 21 January – 21 February, Grand Theatre (Leeds)

The Girl of the Golden West

Puccini’s opera of the American West, set during the California Gold Rush, was a great success at its premiere at the New York Met in December 1910, starring Caruso and Emmy Destinn, and conducted by Toscanini. Puccini’s peerless melodic gift and capacity for creating local colour was well-suited to this tale of a love triangle involving Dick Johnson, aka the bandit Ramerrez, Sheriff Jack Rance and Minnie, the Girl of the Golden West who runs the Polka saloon.

In Opera North‘s first production of the work in three decades, Alwyn Mellor returns to the Company as Minnie, one of Puccini’s most demanding soprano roles. Music Director Richard Farnes conducts, and Aletta Collins, whose productions of La voix humaine and Dido and Aeneas were among last season’s highlights, directs.

Running 21 – 25 January, Theatre Royal (Newcastle)

Barry Humphries Farewell Tour – Eat, Pray, Laugh!

Barry Humphries Farewell Tour will give audiences a final chance to see one of the world’s sharpest wits and finest comic talents, and a gigastar of stage and TV over the last 60 years, while giving the maestro a chance to thank his many fans.
Act One features the outrageous Les Patterson and gentle, poignant Sandy Stone. According to Dame Edna “this is just a bit of foreplay really before I make an orgasmic appearance in Act Two!”

Surrounded by spectacular sets and gorgeous, talented dancers, Dame Edna keeps her audience enthralled and ‘in stitches’ with her sparkling wit, mischievous wisdom and razor-sharp banter.

Running 23 – 31 January, Sheffield Theatres (Sheffield)

Propeller’s The Comedy of Errors

Nobody does Shakespeare like Propeller.
In Shakespeare’s smartest and most farcical play, The Comedy of Errors, two sets of estranged twins, separated at birth, find themselves in the same city 25 years later with hilarious consequences. Fortunately the audience is always one step ahead…

This production is touring alongside A Midsummer Night’s Dream. You can see both Propeller shows in one day on Friday 31 January.

Running 28 January – 1 February, West Yorkshire Playhouse (Leeds)

The Tiger Lillies: Lulu

The Tiger Lillies' genre-defying brand of other-worldly vocals and unnerving performance style have carved them a unique niche in the cabaret and music theatre scene. After a sell-out run of 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' at the Southbank Centre, the cult creators of the award-winning 'Shockheaded Peter' now stage another adaptation of a macabre classic.

The character of Lulu is one of the great creations of 20th Century fiction, and one of its most disturbing. Her unbridled sex appeal, her youth, and her self-destructiveness combine to make her dangerous, unpredictable and tragic.

The band's flamboyant live performance is enhanced by large-scale virtual sets that create an immersive and richly atmospheric environment. Across 20 songs and interludes, the ballad of Lulu unfolds as an uncompromising musical and visual melodrama.

Running 28 January – 1 February, Harrogate Theatre (Harrogate)

Hidden

Six people.
Six ordinary lives.
They have one thing in common: they're all hiding something.

Hidden is a darkly comic story. The intriguing puzzle of how six people's lives interweave and unravel in a modern urban world. Hilarious and poignant in equal measure.
Hidden peels back the skin and explores the inside.



After a sell-out run at The Lowry in Manchester, Black Toffee's critically acclaimed comedy drama lands at Harrogate Studio Theatre.